Did Carlie's Accused Killer Try Kidnap Before?
Feb. 9 -- While Carlie Brucia's father questions why Joseph P. Smith, the man accused of killing his daughter, was roaming the streets of Sarasota, Fla., as a free man, a woman who claims she narrowly escaped Smith's clutch seven years ago says the system simply failed.
Teri Stinson says she still remembers all the details of the frightening night she encountered Smith, who she said lunged from some bushes near the highway and grabbed her as she walked to a friend's house in Bradenton, Fla.
"I lost my footing on my side of the rail and fell on my back. He landed on top of me and said that he would cut me," Stinson said on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America.
Stinson said she believed the man, who she had never seen before, intended to rape and kill her. She said she was able to wriggle away from Smith as he tried to pull her to her feet. When she stopped a van of vacationing golfers, Smith ran off and the men helped Stinson call police.
While Smith was charged with the kidnapping and false imprisonment of Stinson, a jury acquitted him. In his defense presented to the court, he said he meant the woman no harm.
Stinson said she was surprised by the jury's acquittal and believes the system failed her and Carlie.
"This is a person that should have been locked away for a very long time, for just even attempting to kidnap somebody," she said.
Four years before Stinson reported her highway attack, there was another woman who claimed she was violently attacked by Smith in 1993. The woman, Michelle Warner, said Smith broke her nose with a motorcycle helmet when she encountered him as she walked home from a Sarasota beach club. Smith pleaded no contest to the charge and was sentenced to 60 days in the county jail and two years of probation.
Hurt and Angry
From those who knew 11-year-old Carlie, whose body was found behind a church Friday morning, there have been claims that the justice system failed the young girl by letting Smith roam free.
Popular Reads
ABC News Live